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May 16, 2009

Saturday May 16, 2009 Michael Wiesenberg

Theme: None

Total blocks: 32

Total words: 66

The four corners of this grid looks so balanced. Each with stacked 4*7 entries. And the whole puzzle has only five 3-letter fills. Neat. Once again, I found the long answers in Down entries to be very interesting.

Where did you get your foothold today? Do you always start with 1-Across? I solved the lower right corner first. ORDONEZ (40D: 2007 A.L. batting champ Magglio) was a gimme. He is a very interesting character, being a staunch supporter of Hugo Chávez. His baseball cards are not worth anything though, unless they are authenticated autographs.

There is an international flavor to this puzzle: ROMANIA (34D: Nadia Comaneci's homeland), SPAIN (50A: View from Gibraltar) & MONTE CARLO (48A: Riviera attraction). Then we have ISRAELI, SUEZ, NEIN, TE AMO and TETE. Colorful fills.

Across:

1A: Journalist Kupcinet et al.: IRVS. Stumped immediately. He was a long-time columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and his nickname was "Kup". The lady on his left is Lauren Bacall.

5A: Take by force: WREST

10A: Fix: BIND. Can you give me an example on how they are interchangeable?

14A: Word repeated before "Born is the king of Israel": NOEL. The only Christmas song I can remember by heart is "Silent Night". Taught by an American who was immediately fired for teaching us this "religious song".

15A: Games immortal: HOYLE. His first name stumped many last time when it's clued as "Card game authority" (EDMOND HOYLE).

16A: Lou's "La Bamba" co-star: ESAI (Morales). Learned this fact from doing Xword. I liked ESAI Morales in "NYPD Blue". He was so cool, at least, before he reconnected with his ex.

25A: Maryland Air Force base: ANDREWS. Just found out ANDREWS Air Force Base was named for General Frank M. Andrews, former Commanding General of United States Forces in the ETO (European Theater of Operations) during WWII, according to Wikipedia.

26A: Slanted, in a way: ITALIC

28A: Nutritional regimen since the 1970s: ATKINS DIET. Not for me. Meat is just a side dish in Asian diet.

56A: Noncom nickname: SARGE. Isn't it strange that the shortened form of sergeant is SARGE instead of the more reasonable SERGE? This gives me an excuse to link SERGE Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus".

83 comments:

Good morning, C.C. Well, we've been waiting for one that would blow us away, and this one certainly tried. I needed red letter help for two squares, but i managed to finish the rest by working it a letter at at time.

I started with the across clues and had just six words filled in when I started on the downs. I'm going to take a page from Embien and start doing the downs first. I seem to have better luck with them.

IRV was easy for me because he was a fixture on the Chicago social scene for many years.

I don't care for the 'Fix:' BIND pairing. I can't think of an example for you.

Is ICE IT a common phrase for the rest of you? This isn't part of my vocabulary, but I see it a lot here.

HAAS came from the fills.

I know very little about blackjack other than 21 wins, and the likelyhood of pulling an ace or a two is nil, so you'd stand pat (not take any further cards) if you had cards that totaled 19.

I have no idea who PEELE is.

I've come to expect 'Slanted' to mean ITALIC here. In the Chicago puzzles it was likely to be 'atilt.'

I'm astonished that I got PURPLE RAIN. I thought to myself that I knew nothing about Prince other than he had changed his name to a symbol that couldn't be pronounced. Then, I got enough of the fills to realize I knew the song title.

I don't like the clue for SNORER, and LEAS bring to mind 'meadows,' not tilled farm land.

CYAN came once I had a few of the perps.

I thought 'Begin, e.g." was the cleverest clue.

For the longest time, I tried to cram 'Thomas Paine' into the space intended for THOREAU.....DUH! No C.C., I obviously haven't read it.

Today begins the 2009 Boat Widowhood season. My husband left at 4:30 to take his sailboat to be lifted into Lake Michigan. Ah....the things I'll get to do! *G*

CC et al:It seems we are drawing late night trolls on a regular basis. Last night's was most likely the same one who CC told recently, "Your comment is not welcome."

I am posting this morning to issue a blanket apology for my troll response yesterday. This blanket does not cover said troll, as I consider that one as well as others who post anonymously to have no standing whatsoever, and to constitute one of the lower forms of Internet life. But my comment was, in the first place, unnecessary, and in the second, possibly offensive to some of you. Please accept my apology, and I will try to show mor restraint in future situations.I do appreciate a great deal Dennis' (and others) comments afterward, but my apology stands, if you will accept it. WM: very, very high.

Good morning, C.C. and gang - a very enjoyable puzzle, especially for a Saturday. I agree with KittyB, not easy, but satisfying to finish.

My foothold came early. 'Irvs' was a gimme, which gave me 'routine' and 'veranda', then 'Andrews', and I went from there.

'Fix' can mean to 'make fast' to something, so I can see how bind fits.

'Begin' threw me initially, as I was looking for 'onset' or something similar; great clue.

C.C., 'The Art of War' was and is an extremely helpful book for me, both in actual warfare and in the political machinations of the corporate world. And yes, love is indeed an art, and making love a fine art.

Good morning CC and all,The ART OF LOVE is a book title as well, not just a casual phrase. It is a very long poem written by Ovid, that old Roman, and its Latin title is "Ars Amatoria."So that's why the clue said "Love and war, to some."The Art of Love (Ovid) and The Art of War (Sun Tzu).Two books with like titles.

CC: Up early waiting on grandchild...that . may be the key...plodded through and had trouble only with the upper right corner because I had to Google 3 names. Favorite (clever) clues for me were, "One might keep you from going out", "They may be sheepish"' and "Begin, e.g.". Catching up with you, Jimbo!

When we were first married, I would have husband`s coin collection divied out when he came home and he taught me 7 card draw and blackjack ("nineteen" came easy..."bust" came even easier when I was learning)

Windover: When you have strong feelings about an issue... it`s hard to keep them in, at times. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt!

Good, hard puzzle for me. I had trouble with the SW corner, mainly because I know little or nothing about pop music written after about 1970! Leas did not seem to fit a farm, could not remember idio, or Romania; wanted persist for press on; never heard of a color cyan, etc.

Lots of good clues: for grins, snorer, te amo.

Our annual Beach to Bay Marathon is reaching the finish line as I write this. It is a relay race with six legs, starting on Padre Island and finishing on the Bayfront downtown. I think we had almost 2,000 teams from all over the South and West participate.

I finished a Saturday puzzle with just a little help. I had to google dried coconut meat, and I didn't have Ordonez until I checked in here.

It was definitely a hunt and peck method of solving. I especially enjoyed figuring out Israeli on my own. I had mend for fix for the longest time until I got Begin, e.g. The snorer answer didn't mean anything to me but the letters fit.

Now I'm off to do the more mundane puzzle carried in the Oregonian. I'll check in later to see how everyone else liked this one.

I felt really "smart" as I easily filled in the northwest & upper center boxes. This was going to be my day! Then I used "mend" for "bind," "hired" & "nomad" for mercenary and "ocean road" for "coast road." Now I have a headache so I think I'll go for a long bike ride. Congratulations to all of you who whizzed through this puzzle.

First time poster, long time reader...I started crosswords 2 years ago when I was out of work, and I've been hooked ever since!

And now, I am hooked on this blog! I enjoy your banter, camaraderie and never ending wit.

Thank you CC & gang for not only helping me to learn, but in showing me how rewarding cyber-friendships can be!

It is refreshing to see how you stick up for and encourage one another.

In response to all the negative posters yesterday, I enjoy reading others opinions. It is how we, as evolved people, learn to "see" the other side of our own opinions. And that, hopefully, leads to tolerance.

The Saturday themeless is always my favorite LA Times puzzle. Rich Norris is a really great editor. This is a fine grid. A 66-worder is really hard to construct! Plus there's sort of a mini-theme with WHITE WATER and PURPLE RAIN.

Off-topic, I have to admit that I sneaked a peak at what everyone thought of my Saturday themeless of April 18. Some good comments, some not so great. The important thing to me is that people tried it and felt like discussing words and puzzles. It's funny how a little word like JIG generates interesting commentary. It's also worth noting that the clues that most amused people were mostly the editor's, not mine alas.

Anyway, thanks for supporting Rich's editorial efforts and your hard-working army of constructors!

Good morning- I know I am one of many that found your site by accident and have enjoyed it so much but never written before! I come here each day to read the comments on the puzzle and see how others are "stumped" or not..so thanks for the occassional help. I am a life long crossword solver but no match for the creative bloggers on your site. I will sit and read and enjoy! Joan in Illinois

Good morning all!Well, I certainly didn't whizz through this one. I did start strongly in the North, except for HOYLE (I always think it's Doyle, funny though, I did get white water after looking and giving up on 15A) and ICE IT. Couldn't think of ATKINS--I've never thought name brand diets were worth anything.

But below those the only things I had correct were te amo, nein, sarge and Suez. I had LTRS for MSGS, so couldn't see SPAIN, which should have been obvious, likewise MONTE CARLO, though you've got to be a billionaire to be attracted to it, at least to live or gamble there. Also having DESERTS for STRANDS didn't help.

Al, Close but no cigar: Ich liebe dich nicht. Remember: the German -ie- sound rhymes with -eee, -ei- rhymes with eye.

c.c.,Thanks for yds., but what do you mean by the length of the hole? Is that the distance from the previous hole or the tee off area? And why is the ball marked with yds? I thought they would all go the same distance depending on who whacks them.

I agree about psalmic, I'd thought of organic, but couldn't figure a way to justify the double-entendre.

I'm still wildly jealous of all the cute grandkid photos. And to make matters worse, my son, the married one, has just been given an opportunity to return to Germany for his firm. It's a difficult decision because they'd have to sell the house they've been working so hard on for about a year now, and move all their stuff back again. But if they go, it means I'd be too far away from their kids once they do start a family.

Welcome Dana, Boomermomma, and Scott A. Good to see your slant on our efforts.

@Kazie, thanks for the clarification. It's been a long time since I took German in High School.

C.C., I looked up the name of Kaa here. It's apparently supposed to be based on the sound that would be made with a wide-open mouth exhalation as when a snake attacks. Anyone familiar with Hogwarts might think of the parsel tongue snake language from the movie adaptations. Interesting to note that Kaa was one of Mowgli's mentors in the book, but was a villian in the Disney film.

Here is a brief synopsis of Civil Disobedience: Government rarely proves itself useful and it derives its power from the majority because they are the strongest group, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint. People's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. When a government is unjust, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general.

Ah, Windover, you don't need to apologize for having an opinion. Try to ignore the trolls, if you can.

Jano, thanks for the insight on Ovid and Sun Tzu. I hadn't made the connection, and it nicely explains that clue.

C.C., I haven't made that picture of Lana my wallpaper, but I do have it on my desktop. She was adorable, and SO TINY! We celebrate her fifth birthday tomorrow, so if I get to the puzzle, it will be late in the day.

Lemonade, thanks for the link to the CMYK info; it's something I was not familiar with. <-----preposition.... (sigh)

Lola, my sister! 'Hunt and peck' is the perfect description for how I filled in the blanks today. We must be related. I loved the 'yay, me' moment. I hope you find your way back to 'blue' status soon.

Vern, it will come. Dana, welcome to the group. I like your attitude on posting.

boomermomma, what part of Illinois? Don't lurk...come out and join us. The more the merrier.

Ok ok, I won't lurk but I am new here and and tad intimidated by the brains on this site. I am a deer in the headlights with the "patterns" and cross fills and lingo of crossword puzzlers....I just love to challenge my mind and move on for the day. Call me shallow LOL

solved clockwise this morning, mostly smooth sailing but had to work for PEELE, PSALMIC, and ORDONEZ. i am beginning to enjoy the saturday themeless, which i rarely did with the old puzzles.

@stuart: that SNORER explanation makes perfect sense, thanks.

@windhover: please don't censor your comments.

@barb b: travel safely.

in love, realism is the least artful, i think. you could paint a picture of flowers exactly as they appear, but you may as well take a photograph. a little distortion could actually display their essence in a deeper way. that's the art of love. singing in the voice of marigolds. or, for dennis, tulips.

Good, hard puzzle for me. I had trouble with the SW corner, mainly because I know little or nothing about pop music written after about 1970! Leas did not seem to fit a farm, could not remember idio, or Romania; wanted persist for press on; never heard of a color cyan, etc.

Lots of good clues: for grins, snorer, te amo.

Our annual Beach to Bay Marathon is reaching the finish line as I write this. It is a relay race with six legs, starting on Padre Island and finishing on the Bayfront downtown. I think we had almost 2,000 teams from all over the South and West participate.

Quickly and persevere had me chuckling as I slowly filled in all that I could muster. Quickly: started out as readily, then in haste. Didn't like clues for snorer and teether, but understand the logic. I would have used sawyer of logs or unpopular bedmate, but maybe those are clues for a Monday.

My girls were both fans of Prince, so after thinking of Cinderella, LOL, it came to me. Scott, thanks for pointing out that theme.

Like some dads was my fav. clue.

CC, compost..LOL! I'm sure it was.

Welcome Dana (great attitude!) and Boomermom!

Melissa Bee, that was so poetic!

Ice it, a new one to add to my lengthy list.

It's warming up BIG TIME in our area. Tomorrow is our Bay to Breakers marathon in SF and it will be warmer than usual there. This year is the 1st time they've outlawed running in the nude.We'll see...or maybe not.

Enjoyed this puzzle - got about half done, had to leave for a civic league meeting, came back, g-spotted Ordonez (sorry CC - so not a 'gimme' for me) and the rest fell into place.

I started with 'Purple Rain" and worked from there. I understand the explanations on the Fix/Bind but I am not loving that clue nor 'Snorer'. Referring to 'going out' for sleep instead of going out for dinner is a stretch for me. Otherwise fun Saturday puzzle - not as tough as I thought when I first looked at it. I agree with CC that if you get the first clue things seem to go well but if it's a blank, then I feel as if I'm slogging thru.

Dennis - no fun facts today?

CC - on the blackjack holdings of 19's, staying is the only move but it's not a great hand if the dealer has a 10 or face card up. You always stay but don't always win the hand. We did bring back a little of the Bellagio's money playing blackjack this past week but ran into a dealer with a really hot hand while waiting to leave for the airport and she took some of our winnings back.

Question for all you Houston fans - do you really use the word 'STRO' for your team? It must be a local thing as I don't get it. But have seen it in xwords before so it wasn't hard.

I sing in my church choir and am fairly knowledgeable about church music and have never heard the word 'psalmic' applied to any of our music. Made that corner a tad challenging for me.

Windhover - lovely apology but not needed. We all have to remember not to feed the trolls and reply to anons. But agree that last post last nite was way out of line.

Stuart and Melissa Bee,The snorer clue could also be related to the expression: "out like a light", i.e. falling asleep quickly. If you are in bed with a snorer, that would stop you going "out like a light".

Al,I was thinking of an anagram for is isnt yesterday, but gave up too soon. that website really gave the first one to me today though: effortless.

Al beat me to it with an explanation of the name KAA. I just wanted to use the word "onomatopoeia", which is "the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it". I once got a big crush on a guy who used that word in a conversation. (Weird..the things that turn you on!)

The anagram tool is awesome, but does take most of the challenge out of it; it makes the thought process effortless. I enjoy doing them, but this makes it really easy if you can identify which are anagrams, which are puns and which are run ons.

Doreen, No...no...no. I am positive that Windhover was referring ONLY to Anons who don't sign their names. Posters such as yourself, Dot and others always sign their posts and are definitely counted as valuable members of this blogging community.

Lemonade714, I guess we can say, "Call me Omooer". Not so easy to pronounce as "Ishmael". I hope you remember more of the book than I do.

C.C.- Al's definition of civil disobedience is concise and well-put. A simple yet profound case of civil disobedience (or disobedience to the 'state') would be when Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of the bus when by law an African-American was mandated to do so.

@CA, I wanted to use "onomatopoeia" too, but after a few attempts, I realized I couldn't spell it... What a crossword answer that would make, 67% vowels.

@Lemonade, I agree that it takes some fun away for the experienced solvers, but I would have an impossible time without it. It does make the Daily Jumble puzzle merely a fill in the blank exercize, though.

Awwww boomermomma! We're NEIGHBORS!! We can be shallow together. I usually have to have C.C. point out the themes for me. When that grandbaby comes, you'll have to put his/her picture up as your avatar. I hope it's soon, and a breeze for the mother.

Kazie, you'll just have to build up those frequent flier miles so you can see your future grandbaby. My oldest sister's kids were living in Perth, Australia, Papua-New Guinea, and London while the kids were growing up. I'm sure she never expected to travel to what we consider exotic parts of the world, but off she went. (er....Papua was the exotic locale! lol)

Lola, I'm happy to share that cyber shake with kazie.

Melissa bee, how did your visit with BarbB go? It was too short, I bet.

Ted, thanks for your take on "in a fix," or "in a bind."

Doreen, I suspect that Windhover didn't intend his comment to include you. I've always enjoyed your comments. There are several people on this blog who have helped others to join the "Blue Band." Would you like us to help you, too?

SBKaren, thanks for the extra info on blackjack.

Clear Ayes, I'm delighted when I find that you and I have had the same response to a puzzle. Your grandbaby is adorable, and I love the hat!

Gee Whiz - I sat there this morning going through the whole puzzle once with only two or three lines filled in and very shaky with those. I finally got the lower portion but the upper stuff had me boggled. I kept trying to put "seize" in for take by force. That whole upper left corner 1 - 27 had me in a fix. I googled a bit today, but just didn't have the urge to keep staring at the empty spaces. Finally came to C.C. magic puzzle answers to see where I made a mess of things.:-(

Oh well, at least Monday I can start fresh with an easy one (I hope).

Rainy and cold here today, I am going to make some chevre and then start on a lasagna for dinner. Happy weekend to you all.

Maria,Ich liebe dich nicht is correct. I was responding to Al's attempt (Ich leibe die nicht) at 8:52am, and giving him the correction he'd invited.

Doreen and Dot,I concur with others who have already spoken up. The really anons are those who don't sign a name and we can't distinguish them from the trolls. You are both definitely part of this group.

That's five for me today, though I hadn't planned to get done so early.

Dot and Doreen (and any others who post as anon but DO sign their names, I will join the others in saying your comments are always interesting and fun to read. Our annoyance is with the UNSIGNED trolls who make disgusting comments.

Oberhasli..you mentioned fixing lasagna. I fixed that a few nights ago, and it turned out rather bland. Do you have a recipe you can share? We do not use fennel but that would not account for the way this tasted.

Linda, hope your grandchild arrives soon and in perfect health!

Clear Ayes, WM and KittyB, you all have such cuties for grandchildren. Love their pictures. Could put my pics up too, but they are not babies any longer. Still cute to my though!

Carol...dig out out a baby pic...grown or not. Baby pics are always fun.

CA...always like that they named a King Ethlred the the Unready...what a way to go dowm through history. Think I will skip reading Omoo as Moby Dick was never a favorite and I hated the Old Man and the Sea...I know, different author...but old guys and big fish.

My wife & I did the puzzle today with limited g-help. We had to look things like the baseball guy but the puzzle seemed to a little easier than last Saturday's? Either that or we're adjusting to the LAT style.

@ Carol: I have five grandchildren ages 16, 12, 10( the only boy), 7 and 3... no more on the way :(

What I meant was...Daddy had to go to work at 6 AM and he comes and gets in bed with Grandpa for another 2-3 hours. That means I`m up 2-3 hours earlier than normal. With the extra time,I`m not as pressured to "finish" the puzzle so that my day can start. More time on "hard puzzle" days really helps.

He likes to do "man work"...so today, we built the 10x16 frame for a raised garden and put very wet fill dirt in it. (GM and GP are exhausted!) Will plant tomatoes, cukes, squash and bell peppers with marigolds around the edge.Thank you for the thoughtful wishes "anywho."

Luxor, I did that too. I have made very tasty lasagnas in the past using my own spaghetti sauce recipe for the meat sauce portion,(this included my home canned tomatoes) and it turned out great. I don't know why I got a wild hair to try another recipe but I looked one up in my cookbook and it sure did not deliver.It had all the basic ingredients: ground beef, ground pork sausage, onion, garlic,tomato sauce and paste, dried basil,oregano. For filling:1 beaten egg, riotta cheese (I used cottage cheese),grated Parmesan, shredded Mozzarella cheese. sigh

Where did you get the idea for "catch up"?You went around me so fast I thought I had stalled out.My Wednesday puzzle gave me confidence for a time, but then the week-end happened.Boomermomma, welcome to "My world". Maybe we can learn together. I use a pencil to fill in as much an I am able, then come here to finish off the blanks in ink. Today, about 30% is black. All your comments are "learning tools" and very entertaining. Don't think any apologies are needed, except for some unidentified anons. Love all of you!!Vaya con Dios

WM, How about this image St. George by Raphael? No pen in hand, but he is slaying a slithering, spitting (alliterative onomatopoeia in action), anonymous dragon. The steed is white and the armor is shining, so Winhover, Buckeye, Dennis and all the other knights and ladies, climb aboard. The view is fine!

I liked Moby Dick, that's why I went on to Typee, Omoo and Mardi. I didn't like The Old Man And The Sea. Hemingway was often a little too testossedironical (ie. taking macho stuff much too seriously) for me. Isn't that the correct Fred definition, Buckeye?

Luxor, I know a lot of old songs and I have heard of Dorothy Dix, but that song is one I've never heard of.

Melissa bee, I think our lovely California spring weather is going to be turning into a very hot summer in the very near future. The thermometer on our patio reads 98 degrees. We're cranking up the A/C too.

LOL, I thought Stuart meant that if you are trying to sleep with a SNORER, get up, get dressed, "go out", head down to the neighborhood pub and have a beer. Sounds like a pretty good solution to me.

Kazie, Words to live by...When in doubt, add a 1/2 cup of red wine!Thanks to all for the nice comments about Rachael. If your kids, or grandkids are grown up, post their photos anyway. Who doesn't love a baby photo? They are all adorable!

23:02 today.A good day to solve starting with the down clues (which is the way I seem to be doing the puzzles lately). VERANDA, SLAYERS, WHITE WATER, ROCHESTER (I actually spent some time at training at Kodak in my last job), and TETE on the downs. WREST, HOYLE, NINETEENS, ANDREWS, PEAS on the acrosses. Boom! The northwest and north central were nearly done before I was seated comfortably in my chair.

Things slowed considerably from that point on, however. MEND instead of BIND, GAME instead of ARTS, TENGO instead of TE AMO (I know neither German nor Spanish). Oy vey! (I don't know Yiddish, either.) COASTAL RD instead of COAST ROAD (somehow I had it in my mind that the clue was an abbreviation because of the '1') didn't help matters.

Scott A: Your April 18 puzzle was a favorite of mine. I especially remember the clue for QADDAFI (Libyan leader whose name has more than 30 spellings). Even when you know the answer you can't fill in the entry (it might be spelled any old way)!

CA...a most perfect image...although, I always had a misplaced allegiance and always felt badly for the dragon...I also totally agree on Hemingway...I think the only book I ever read was For Whom the Bell Tolls...I had a preference for Steinbeck in High School and college and pretty much read everything.

Carol...another suggestion for punching up the flavor is to add any dry herbs while you are sauteeing the meat...or with the onions...it intensifies the flavor much more than tossing them into the liquid...also a pinch of red pepper flakes, a trick I learned from my French/Italian friend...although you have to be careful...that, and CA's glass of red wine, but toss that in before you add the tomatoes and let it reduce. I also leave the lid off the sauce pot so that it can reduce a bit which also intensifies flavors. Sounds like the recipe did indeed have a good selection of ingredients...Hmmmmm?

There is also an awesome little book called "Lasagne-the art of layered cooking" by Dwayne Ridgeway...some seriously good stuff including a grilled veggie Lasagne that is a standout...Drat, now I'm hungry...Would love some of Oberhasli's goat cheese(and rain...if you would care to send it backwards to Calif.?)Roasting today.

First things first: to Doreen,Others have explained but I owe it to you to do so personally. I in no way was referring to you or any of the others who choose to post as anonymous and sign at the end, Dot and several others do so. And you probably have guessed that my name is not Windhover, anyway. I like it a lot better than Larry, though. Your posts have revealed you to be a woman of style and grace. I don't know where you are from, but if you were a Southern woman, I'm sure "gracious" would be a word used to describe you, because it is one of our highest compliments.

CC: The title, while self-bestowed, was Assistant Director, Troll Relations. It pays almost as well as farming, but the work load has been crushing lately. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Dennis and all who expressed support:

There's a country song titled "I love this Bar". I may have to write some new lyrics to one titled, "I Love this Blog". You guys are the best. But I'm going to try and exercise a little more restraint. They don't make it easy wearing those "kick me" signs on their back and lobbing those softballs, though.

Speaking of bars, the Irish and I are heading out tonight (after we milk the cow and the goat) to do a little "research". WolfMom: ever higherHello to all the B's

KittyB- we are neighbors? That's great!Where?Will post the grandbabe's pic when he gets here..Can barely move from gardening and mulching but hey the yard is gorgeous if I say so myself!Off to another grandson's birthday at Red Robin and will collapse tonight.Resting up for Sunday's puzzle which always gives me trouble- a large pot of coffee is needed to work it I'll catch you all later and Thank You for the warm welcome-cc you are terrific/Joan

Lots to like in today's puzzle. Lot's to dislike as well, alas. Most of both have already been mentioned, so I won't flog the deceased equines.

11D was a brilliant misdirection.Hat's off to Mr. Weisenberg. He pwned me.

OTOH:I didn't notice any mention of 10D: BE AHEAD. Is an answer like this even legitimate? I don't recall ever seeing a form of the verb "be" with a modifier as an X-word answer. It strikes me as being wrong on several levels. Is there a rule book for X-word constructors?

Would we accept "be overwieght" for "obese," or "be nasty" for snark?

I slogged my was through the rest of the puzzle, but found the NE corner to be intractable. The highly questionable 10D, X-ed with 3 obscure proper names was more than my little pea brain could handle.

Having "inspect" for 13D didn't help, and I'll take the rap on that one.

I bounced all around this puzzle and finally solved it with some red letter help. I continue to be amazed by how I can remember obscure things and miss the most obvious stuff.

C.C. I have to apologize. Clearly the dementia has reached into the back reaches of my mind. I went back to my art history book to get the size of the "Garden of Earthly Delight" and found that it is in The Prado Museum in Madrid and the center panel of the triptych is 8 feet by 6 feet (which is huge). I know I saw a Bosch painting at The Cloisters, a museum of medieval art in Fort Tryone Park in Upper Manhattan, which was about 2 feet by 3 feet with lots of little nude figures engaging in bizarre and highly sexual looking activities, but it was 40 years ago and I have no clue which one it was.

On the other hand I often really enjoy the delusions created in my memory. When we tell stories about our childhood it appears my sister (who is 18 months younger than I) and I grew up in parallel universes, because the things that she remembers and those in my memory for the same event are vastly different.

Oh, well. Time to engage in current day fantasy. We're off to go see the new "Star Trek" movie.

Boomermomma, we're south of Fermi Lab. I've been working on my gardens, too, and was glad for the rain so I could give what passes for muscles a break. The herb garden is 3/4s of the way done, but I have a lot left to do at the front of the house.

Good evening everyone,So glad this week is over. Last Saturday, 2 small children died in a fire about 1/2 mi. from our house. I helped with contributions, food, etc. and then Wednesday my nephew's wife died; so off to New York for the funeral and sad goodbyes. The best part of the week was that I got to spend several days with my grandson. After coming here tonight, I am finally smiling seeing all the adorable baby faces. I can' tell you how much better I feel. It's such a sense of rejuvenation seeing those smiling faces. Thank you all for posting them.

I had a $2 bet on Rachel Alexandra with GAH. He was betting on "The Bird". It sure was an exciting race and he almost caught her. Both of us were on the edge of seats....Flexsteel recliners, that is. I must say, he paid off gracefully. Now, on to the Belmont. I hope they both run there too.

Jeanne, So sorry to hear about your nephew's wife.

It was nice to hear that you and others are banding together to help your neighbors deal with their terrible loss. It may not seem like much, but it can be a real comfort.

WM, you're right. VERY cool.....and it looks like she knows it too. :o)

Thanks for all the kind remarks excusing my anonymity. Someday, I may get adventuresome & ask for help walking me through the process to be a blue blogger.

I have a sweatshirt which says, "My grandkids are as cute as buttons." But I don't dare wear it around any of the grandkids because the youngest is 20 (It really should say GREAT grandkids.) I had a couple of nights this week when I did not sleep well. Youngest grandson drove home to Wisconsin from college in Calif., alone. The funny thing is, I dreamed that night that he and his two brothers were much younger & I was watching them play hide-and-seek. Was I subconscious-ly longing for those more care free days? Dot

Several of you mentioned your gardening. We are having fun with a new project - Square Foot Gardening. My husband built a box 4' X 4' on legs with a grid dividing it in to one foot squares. Each square will contain a different variety of vegetable. We've started seeds in paper cups (now decorating the dining room) & hope they will survive being transplanted to the 'big' garden. Time will tell how much we produce. Dot

Yes, our little filly beat all the big boys, but my guess is she will not run the Belmont, it is too soon and too long a race. As you saw, at a mile and 1/2 she would have lost. I did have the trifecta, which was nice, $200.00 for a 2.00 bet, but I boxed it so it cost me more than 2.00. I was impressed with Mine That Bird's stretch run. Maybe next year, they can run the Preakness on mother's day...

WM and Kazie - thanks so much for the help in the lasagna recipe quest..red wine sound good..1/2 cup in the meat sauce, 1 cup in me --Yes!!! I always put my onions in with the meat along with the garlic. From now on I will use my own spaghetti sauce in the recipe - it was always good.

Jeanne - I am so sorry for your loss! It is so tragic when young life is lost.

Jeanne...so sorry about your loss...It was good that you had your darling grandson to help balance the hurt...I'm glad that we all decided to post cute baby faces...they do have a way of making the dark clouds disappear.

Dot...you will have to keep us updated on the garden project...that is very intriguing. We just expanded our raised beds and now have about 3 x the space...I just have to finish filling it up.

CA...yep...she definitely is a charmer. I just adore your photo and keep thinking you should try it as a pastel...that hat just makes the whole thing special.

Thanks again to all for the congrats and those I missed; i.e., JD. The weekend was wonderful, great meals, wonderful ceremony, and lots of laughs. It is hard to believe that these years are finally over and my daughter is now a full-fledged MD. I am sooooooo proud of her accomplishments and her wonderful future. Thanks again to all of you!